A few weeks ago Tom, the lighthouse caretaker called, to announce that a pod of NINE!! Orcas had been seen swimming around his little boat anchored in Stenness Bay, our small bay which is a part of the greater St Magnus Bay. I was excited that the whales had finally come to our side of the island and disappointed that I had not seen them.

A couple of days later neighbours reported that Orcas had been seen swimming a few feet off shore in Hillswick, the nearest village to the lighthouse. There was no doubt that the Orcas were visiting St Magnus Bay. I became all excited and started reading about the Orca, commonly known as the "killer whale." Why had they come to St Magnus Bay? I assumed they were following their food source. As I researched the subject this is what I found.

Click on picture to enlarge Photograph by Sharma Krauskopf

"The Orca eats fish, squid, penguins, sea lions, seals and the Orca is the only whale that eats other whales. The Orca Whale sucks fish from fishermen's lines. Orcas hunt in pods. Orcas tend to toss there victims around as play before eating them. The Orca is the only whale that attacks and kills animals on shore. The Orca has been found with seal tongue, brain, intestine, walrus remains and other animals inside."

The frightening word in this list of chosen food is seals. The seals that live in St Magnus Bay are our nearest neighbors. I have spent many hours sitting and watching them play near the Bruddans, the area I call the "seal rocks." They are my friends. Realizing my friends had been in danger I immediately called Tom. He had been out in his boat so he would know if the seals had escaped the visit of the whales. Dreading his answer I was pretty sure that he would say the numbers of seals had decreased. I was right Tom had seen only a few seals since the whales visited. Hoping that they were just hiding or had run for shelter, we awaited their return. Thank goodness some are back but not in the numbers that we had in the spring.

I understand that this is the way the food chain works and that what happened was just natural. But, the distressing thing to me is because of man's intervention the number of seals is reduced significantly already. Having a pod of Orcas eating some of the few remaining for lunch seemed like a huge disaster.

Hoping The Seals Return,

Sharma

You can find more articles in the archive under Island Miniatures/Lighthouse Letters.

If you are interested in a video with Sharma and Eshaness Lighthouse on it you can a good one here.

You can find more articles in the archive under Lighthouse Beacons From Scotland.

Book Signing If you order from this web site I will sign my new book for children, Moonbeam Cow, and "Scotland - The Complete Guide and Road Atlas", a beautiful book for which I did the text.